New Trump order to drop Iraq from travel ban

Washington, March 1 (IANS) US President Donald Trump’s new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary US travel ban, officials said.

A White House official who has seen the latest version of the order told Politico on Tuesday that the new order is also believed to temporarily halt all refugee admissions, but no longer single out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban.

And unlike the hastily signed original order, portions of which were suspended by multiple courts, the new version is not expected to affect green card holders or people already in possession of US visas, the official said.

The administration’s decision to exclude Iraq from the travel ban followed pressure from the Pentagon and State Department officials, said reports.

They had urged the White House to reconsider Iraq’s inclusion given its key role in fighting the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Trump is expected to sign the new order on Wednesday.

The six countries still affected by the ban are Iran, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.